PoP cUdDlE bAnG!
by Dark Lady Eris
Summary: Leon walked over to the three men, "you remember when this holiday use to be fun and shit, not all tense? Nothing like having a cop in the family to put the dangers of the fourth into perspective for you." BRIAN/VINCE Don't like Don't read!


_I don't own Fast and the Furious nor and characters! No beta, sorry. Vince/Brian Don't like Don't read! Just a little something I wrote for the fourth, its short, but I wanted to do a holiday themed story!_

* * *

"Dom, Vince!" Hector yelled out as he walked through the gate, late as usual, but showing up just in time for dinner of course.

"Hector," Dom called out with a strained grin while flipping burgers.

"Sorry I'm late I..."

"Save it Hector we all know your ass was on your couch and couldn't walk away from your X-Box," Vince said with a scoff.

Hector grinned, a firework went off a couple blocks from them making the man laugh. "Looks like they are starting early this year." Both Dom and Vince frowned. "What's going on with you two, you look worried."

Dom sighed, "Brian got called in to work tonight."

Hector nodded, "with the burn ban in place and people lighting them up anyways the cops are gonna have their hands full."

Vince nodded, "and the drunk drivers."

Leon walked over to the three men, "you remember when this holiday use to be fun and shit, not all tense? Nothing like having a cop in the family to put the dangers of the fourth into perspective for you."

Vince nodded heavily, "he wasn't quite himself when he left, it looked like something was wrong."

"He's looked that way all week, even planning the barbecue couldn't pull him out of his funk, like he was dreading it."

Vince could only grunt in agreement because it was true, Brian did seem quieter this week, like he knew something bad was going to happen. He had tried to get the blonde man to tell him what was up, but his partner was tight lipped, and his silence was more than a little worrying to Vince. "Let's hope nothing goes wrong tonight."

* * *

It had been a long fucking night for Brian, tons of calls about fireworks just to get there and find everyone had run into their houses to hide from the law. Not to mention the countless DUIs that had racked up.

Brian had been punched by one guy he pulled out of a car, spit on by a drunk as hell woman, he had to tackle another drunk driver when he tried to run, busted up a party where no one was happy to see a cop, and seen the after effects of a car being wrapped around a pole. He had a black eye, skinned knees, and smelled like beer after a few party goers threw some cups at him. Honestly the night just couldn't get any worse. Not to mention he had been losing a battle against his own memories all night.

The Fourth and News Years were always hard on him, all the fireworks multiple bangs it overwhelmed him something fierce and took him back to that dark place a couple of years ago.

By the time he had gotten back home his hands were shaking so bad he couldn't even get the key into the lock. He tried hard but his hands failed him, and finally caused him to lose his grip. The keys fell to the ground and Brian bent down to retrieve them.

Multiple fireworks went off around the house, causing Brian to fall to his knees and cover his ears. He sat there in front of the door rocking back and forth no longer in the present, he was sucked into the past.

* * *

The warehouse was full of people, it was dark, you couldn't make out anything less than two feet around you. Brian stood with his gun out, not really knowing where to shoot, if he shot he could shoot another officer instead of the drug lord and his thugs they were after.

Gunshots rang through those walls loudly, the sound waves hitting the wall and echoing back over and over again.

It seemed like it lasted forever before it finally stopped, everyone putting down their guns long enough to survey the damage. Brian stayed still, trying not to breathe too loudly.

He heard the telling steps of another person beside him, he spun around quickly only to feel the fire and pain that came with being shot in the shoulder. When the person got closer they gasped, "Brian shit! I'm sorry," his patrol partner Julius yelled out.

Brian tried to motion for the man to be quiet but it was too late, another shot rang through the air, and Brian felt his partner fall down beside him, no longer breathing.

There were more shots after that, more uncertainty of which side Brian was shooting at when he joined the fight.

All he could see now were the lights turning on finally when backup arrived. The warehouse littered with bodies, criminals, cops, it didn't matter because the majority were dead.

His friends, men he joked with daily at the station, men with wives and kids, and his own partner of three years.

* * *

Vince quickly ran to the door when he heard Brian's voice ring out sounding panicked and afraid. Screaming in terror. When he opened the door he never expected to see his strong, brave lover crawled up into the fetal position on the ground with his hands over his ears.

"Shit," Vince cursed out, still listening to Brian yell and scream. Listening to his words about death, so much death, and what if he killed them all. He bent down to try and touch Brian only to send the man flying back and almost off the porch in fear. "Dom come help me!"

Dom came flying up to the door, one look at Brian and he knew what was wrong, it didn't take a genius to recognize the signs of PTSD. "Got to get him inside where it's quieter!" Dom yelled out over the pops and bangs.

With both men grabbing Brian they were able to get him safely inside where Vince called for someone to turn on the TV, the radio, anything to cover up the sounds from outside.

"Bri," Vince called out pulling Brian into his chest and throwing himself back on the couch. "Your home Brian! Your home! You're not where you think you are!"

Brian grabbed onto Vince's arm in a hard grip. "Vince," Brian whimpered. "They all died," he sobbed out.

Vince's heart broke at the sound of Brian's broken sobs, he shifted Brian even closer to him and gathered him even tighter into his arms. "You're not there Brian, your with me," He told the man while bending down to kiss Brian's face, his neck, and everywhere else he could reach.

"It's so loud, like guns," Brian croaked. "Bad case, so many..."

"Shh," Vince soothed, seeing some awareness pass through Brian's eyes. "You can tell me later, right now don't think about."

Jesse walked over to the two men on the couch with a pair of sweats he had retrieved from Vince and Brian's room. "I got these so he could change, you can hear the fireworks even louder in your room," Jesse told Vince.

Vince nodded in thanks and helped Brian stand up to go change.

He took him to the guest bathroom and shut the door. "I'm sorry," Brian said quietly, "I should have told you they bothered me, I was just hoping this year they wouldn't."

Vince grabbed Brian's face and gave his lips a quick simple peck, "yes you should have, buts it's okay, there's nothing to be sorry about."

Vince undid the buttons of Brian's uniform and helped him slip it off. He then helped him into the sweats and kissed the top of his head. He took a good hard look at Brian and noticed the black eye on the man for the first time. "What happened?" He asked tracing the dark coloration with his fingers.

"Got punched by a drunk," Brian huffed out. "My knees are all banged up from tackling another, and this lady spat on me. Broke up a party and people threw their drinks at me. It's been a bad night," he rasped out falling into Vince once more, shaking when more fireworks went off outside the house.

"It's okay Bri," he whispered into the man's curls, "your home now."

When they got back everyone was in the living room with popcorn and blankets and very loud movie already started.

Vince held on to Brian as they walked feeling the tremors pass through his body. Everyone else must have seen them rather than felt them, because they all moved over to the couch instead of spread out around the room like they usually did when a movie was on.

Vince sat down beside Dom and both of them pulled Brian down on top of them. Sitting on Vince sideways and his legs laying across Dom's lap. Letty lifted up Brian's legs and crawled under, while Mia sat at the end, under Brian's feet. Both Jesse and Leon sat on the floor in front of Brian leaning their heads back to touch his leg.

Another long bang went off and caused Brian to jump.

"It's okay, we got you," Dom told him patting his knee, while everyone nodded in agreement.

"I know," Brian said, feeling better for the first time that day surrounded by the people he felt the safest with, his family.


End file.
